CHEMICAL

BONDING

OBJECTIVES
explain

the formation of bond in terms of

potential energy diagram and octet rule;
list different types of bonds;
define ionic bond and cite some
examples;
write Lewis structures of some simple
molecules;

 list

the characteristics of ionic compounds;

explain Born Haber Cycle;
define covalent bond and cite some
examples;
list the characteristics of covalent
compounds;
state valence shell electron pair repulsion
(VSEPR) theory;

 explain

bond polarity and dipole moment;

Chemical Bonding
explain bond parameters;
predict the geometry of molecules with
the help of VSEPR theory;
explain the hybridization of atomic
orbitals involving s, p and d orbitals.

 VALENCE

ELECTRONS:
The electrons in the outer most
shell take part in the bond
formation
and
determine
the
combining capacity or the valency
of the atom. Therefore, the outer
most shell of any atom is called its
valence shell and the electrons
present in the valence shell are
called the valence electrons.

WHAT IS A CHEMICAL BOND?

When two atoms of same or different
elements approach each other, the energy
of the combination of the atoms becomes
less than the sum of the energies of the
two separate atoms at a large distance.
The bond is called a chemical bond.

 There

are different types of chemical

bonds, like,
Ionic or electrovalent bond
Covalent bond
Co-ordinate covalent bond
In addition to these we have a special
kind of bond called hydrogen bond.

IONIC OR ELECTOVALENT BOND

According

to Kossels theory, in the

process of formation of ionic bond the
atoms acquire the noble gas electronic
configuration by the gain or loss of
electrons.

 Let

us consider the formation of NaCl in

terms of Kossels Theory.
The electronic configuration of sodium
atom (atomic number 11) is 2,8,1. Since
it is highly electropositive, it readily loses
an electron to attain the stable
configuration of the nearest noble gas
(neon) atom.
It becomes a positively charged sodium
cation (Na+) in the process.

Na Na+ + e ; H = 493.8 kJ mol1

2,8,1
2,8 (H is enthalpy change)
On

the other hand, a chlorine atom

(electronic configuration: 2,8,7) requires
one electron to acquire the stable
electronic arrangement of an argon atom.
It becomes a negatively charged chloride
anion (Cl) in the process.

Cl + e Cl ; H = 379.5 kJ mol1
2,8,7
2,8,8
According to Kossels theory, there is a
transfer of one electron from sodium
atom to chlorine atom and both the atoms
attain noble gas configuration.
The positively charged sodium ion and
the negatively charged chloride ion are
held together by electrostatic attractions.

 The

bond so formed is called an

electrovalent or an ionic bond.
Thus the ionic bond can be visualized as
the electrostatic force of attraction that
holds the cation and anion together.
The compounds so formed are termed as
ionic or electrovalent compounds.

Energetics of Ionic Compound Formation

You

may raise a question here that when

more energy is required (ionisation energy)
to form a sodium ion from sodium atom,
than that released (electron affinity) in the
formation of chloride ion from chlorine
atom.
Then how do we say that the formation of
NaCl is accompanied by a decrease in
energy?

 This

can be explained on the basis of

Born Haber Cycle.
The formation of NaCl from sodium and
chlorine can be broken down into a
number of steps as :
(a) Sublimation of solid sodium to
gaseous sodium atoms.
Na(s) Na(g) ; H = 108.7 kJ
mol1

 (b)

Ionization of gaseous sodium atom to

give sodium ion.
Na(g) Na+(g) + e ; H = 493.8
kJ mol1
(c) Dissociation of gaseous chlorine
molecule into chlorine atoms.
1/2Cl2(g) Cl(g) ; H = 120.9
kJ mol1

 (d)

Conversion of gaseous chlorine atom to

chloride ion (addition of electron)
Cl(g) + e Cl(g) ; H = 379.5
kJ mol1
Formation of NaCl from sodium and
chloride ions.(Crystal or lattice formation).
Na+(g) + Cl(g) Na+ Cl (s)
H = 754.8 kJ mol1
The energy released in this step is lattice
energy.

 The

net reaction would be

Na(s) + Cl2(g) Na+Cl (s) ;
H = 410.9 kJ mol1
The overall energy change can be
computed by taking the sum of all the
energy changes:
H = ( 180.7 + 493.8 + 120.9 379.5
754.8 ) = - 410.9 kJ mol1

 Thus

we see that the net process of

formation of NaCl from sodium and
chlorine is accompanied by a large
decrease in the energy. The approach we
have just followed is based on the law of
conservation of energy and is known as
Born- Haber cycle.

Born-Haber
Cycle

 On

the basis of the above discussion we

can say that the formation of an ionic
compound is favored by:
i. Low ionisation energy of the metal,
ii. High electron affinity of the other
element (non-metal), and
iii. High lattice energy

Characteristic Properties of Ionic

Compounds
These exist as crystalline solids in which
the ions are arranged in a regular three
dimensional structure.
The ionic compounds are generally hard
and brittle in nature.
These compounds have high melting and
boiling points due to strong electrostatic
interactions between the ions.

 These

are generally soluble in water and

less soluble in non-polar solvents like
ether, alcohol, etc.
These conduct electricity when in molten
state or in aqueous solutions.
Kossels theory explains bonding quite
well but only for a small class of solids
composed of electropositive elements of
Group 1 and 2 with highly electronegative
elements.

 Secondly,

this theory is incapable of

explaining the formation of molecules
like, SO2 or O2 , etc.
For example in case of O2, there is no
reason to expect that one atom of oxygen
would lose two electrons while the other
accepts them.
The problem was solved by Lewis theory
of covalent bonding.

COVALENT BOND
Lewis

assumed that atoms attain noble

gas electronic configuration in the
process of bond formation.
However,
the way the noble gas
electronic configuration is achieved, is
different.
Lewis proposed that this is achieved by
sharing of a pair of electrons between

the two atoms.

 For

example, two hydrogen atoms

Chemical Bonding form a molecule by
sharing a pair of electrons. If electrons
are indicated as dots, formation of
hydrogen molecule can be shown as
H.+ .H

H:H

HH

 This

shared pair of electrons contributes

towards the stability of both the atoms and
is said to be responsible for bonding
between the two atoms.
Such a bond is called covalent bond and
the compounds so obtained are called
covalent compounds.

Lewis Structure
Lewis

provided a very convenient way of

representing bonding in simple molecules.
This is called Lewis electron-dot
structures or simply Lewis structures.
In Lewis structure each element is
represented by a Lewis symbol.

 This

symbol consists of the normal

chemical symbol of the element
surrounded by number of dots representing
the electrons in the valence shell.
Since the electrons are represented by dots,
these are called electron-dot structures.
The Lewis symbols of some elements are
as:

 In

terms of Lewis symbols the ionic bond

formation in NaCl can be represented as:

and the covalent bond formation in HFl

is represented as

 In

terms of Lewis structures the formation

of a chlorine molecule from two chlorine
atoms may be represented as:

Coordinate Covalent Bond

In

some cases both the electrons of the

shared pair are contributed by only one
species (atom, molecule or ion). A
common example is the formation of a
bond between Boron trifluoride (BF3) and
ammonia (NH3).

Characteristic properties of
Covalent Compounds
The

covalent compounds have low

melting and boiling points.
The
covalent compounds are poor
conductors of electricity.
The covalent compounds are generally
insoluble in water and dissolve in
nonpolar solvents like benzene.

Bond Polarity and Dipole Moment

A

covalent bond is formed by sharing of

a pair of electrons by the two atoms each
one of which contributes one electron.
If the two atoms have the same electro
negativity, then the sharing of the two
bonded atoms is equal.
Such a bond is pure covalent bond. It is
non-polar in nature.

 However,

if the electronegativities of the

two bonded atoms are different as in HCl,
then the shared pair of electrons lies more
towards the more electronegative atom
i.e. chlorine.
As a result, a small negative charge ()
develops on Cl atom and an equal
positive charge (+) develops on H atom.
The covalent bond in HCl is a polar
covalent bond.

Dipole moment
Dipole

Moment () = Magnitude of
charge (Q) Distance of Separation (r)
It is commonly measured in the unit
debye, symbol D.
The SI unit of dipole moment is
Coulomb-metre (Cm). The two units are
related as 1D = 3.336 1030 cm

 Dipole

moment is a vector quantity since it

has direction and magnitude both. By
convention, the symbol (
) is used to
represent the dipole moment.
For example:
Carbon dioxide, CO2
CO2 molecule is a linear tri atomic
molecule. Each C = O bond is polar with
the oxygen atom having the negative end
of the bond dipole

 The

dipole moments of both the C = O

bonds have the same magnitude but are in
opposite directions hence they cancel
each other.
The net dipole moment of CO2 is zero.

 Ammonia,

NH3
NH3 has a pyramidal structure which
makes the arrangement of three NH
bonds unsymmetrical.
In each NH bond, nitrogen is the
negative centre and hydrogen is the
positive centre.

Fajans rules
Fajan

proposed some empiprical rules

that deal with the polarization process.
These rules are known as Fajans rules.
The following factors increase the
covalent character of an ionic bond
(i) small cation
(ii) large anion
(iii) high positive charge on cation

 cations

with electronic configuration (n

1)dxns0 (typically transition metal cations)
as compared to cations with same size
and charge but having ns2np6 (noble gas)
configuration.

Covalent Bond Parameters

Bond

order:
Bond order is the number of bonds
present between two atoms in a molecule
or ion. Generally, bond order has an
integral value.
For example, Bond order = 1.

 Bond

order is 1 (one) when there is only

one covalent bond (sigma bond)
between the two bonded atoms. H2, Cl2,
NH3 are some such examples.

 Bond

Length:
Bond length is the distance between the
nuclei of the two bonded atoms. It is
expressed in picometer (pm).
Bond length depends upon the sizes of
the bonded atoms and the bond order of
the bond linking them.
The greater the bond order, the smaller is
the bond length.

 Bond

Angle:
It is the angle between the two bonds in a
molecule. Since covalent bonds are
formed through overlapping of orbitals.
It may also be defined as the angle
between the two orbitals that contain
bonding electrons and overlap with
atomic orbitals of other atoms. Bond

 Bond

Enthalpy aH
It is the amount of energy required for
breaking one mole of bonds of a
particular type in gaseous molecules.
It is also called bond dissociation
enthalpy, and is applicable to simple
molecules, containing only one bond of
the particular type.

 For

example, the bond enthalpy of ClCl

bond in Cl2 is 243 kJ mol1, of O=O in O2
is 498 kJ mol1 and of NN bond in N2 is
946 kJ mol1.
A difficulty arises in using this definition
in case of molecules that contain more
than one bond of the same type. H 2O
molecule has two OH bonds and the two
bonds require different amounts of
energies to break.

 In

such cases, average bond enthalpy is

considered. It is defined as the average
energy per bond required to dissociate
one mole of bonds in gaseous atoms.

HYDROGEN BONDING
It

is a special type of attraction between a

hydrogen atom bonded to a strongly
electronegative atom (like nitrogen,
oxygen or fluorine) and the unshared pair
of electrons on another electronegative
atom.
Hydrogen bond is a weak bond, the
strength being just about 4-25 kJ mol1.

 In

fact it is due to hydrogen bonding only

that water exists as a liquid. The low
density of ice also can be explained in
terms of hydrogen bonding.

 There

are two types of hydrogen bonds.

If the hydrogen bond is formed between
two different molecules it is called
intermolecular hydrogen bond.
When the hydrogen bond exists within
the same molecule, it is called
intramolecular hydrogen bond.

 Salicyldehyde

ad o-nitrophenol are two

common examples of the molecules
showing
intramolecular
hydrogen
bonding whereas in water,
Intermolecular hydrogen bonding exists.

VALENCE SHELL ELECTRON PAIR

REPULSION (VSEPR) THEORY
VSEPR theory was put forth by Sidgwick
and Powell in 1940 to explain the shapes
of molecules.
It was later refined and extended by
Nyholm and Gillespie in1957.
The theory has two main postulates:

POSTULATE 1
The electron pairs (both bonding and
non-bonding) around the central atom in
a molecule arrange themselves in space
in such a way that they minimize their
mutual repulsion.
In other words, the chemical bonds in the
molecule will be energetically most
stable when they are as far apart from
each other as possible.

 For

example in BF3 (boron trifluoride) the

central atom, boron has an electronic
configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p1. That is, it has
three electrons in its valence shell.
In the process of covalent bond formation
with three fluorine atoms three more
electrons are contributed (one by each
fluorine atom ) to the valence shell.
Thus there are a total of 6 valence
electrons or three pairs of valence
electrons.

 According

to the VSEPR postulate, these

electron pairs would try to keep as far
apart as possible. It makes the three
electron pairs to be located at an angle of
120o which gives the molecule a planar
trigonal shape.

POSTULATE 2
Chemical Bonding The repulsion of a
lone pair of electrons for another lone
pair is greater than that between a bond
pair and a lone pair which in turn is
greater than between two bond pairs. The
order of repulsive force between different
possibilities is as under.
lone pair - lone pair > lone pair - bond
pair > bond pair - bond pair

 Let

us take an example of methane.water.

All the three contain a total of 4 electron
pairs around their central atom. But the
nature of these is different in the three
cases. In methane molecule the central
carbon atom has 4 valence electrons and
it shares 4 electrons with four hydrogen
atoms. So there are a total of 4 bond pairs

MODERN THEORIES OF
CHEMICAL BONDING
After

the development of quantum

mechanical description of atomic
structure two more theories were
proposed to explain the bonding between
atoms. These are called modern theories
of chemical bonding. These are:
Valence
Bond Theory (VBT) and
Molecular Orbital Theory (MOT).

 Valence

Bond Theory
Valence bond theory was proposed by
Heitler and London in 1927, to describe
the formation of hydrogen molecule from
its atoms.
Linus
Pauling and others further
developed it. In this approach the process
of chemical bond formation can be
visualised as the overlapping of atomic
orbitals of the two atoms as they
approach each other.

The strength of the

bond depends on the
effectiveness or extent
of the overlapping.
Greater the overlapping
of the orbitals, stronger
is the bond formed.
Let us take the example
of bonding in hydrogen
molecule to understand
the VB approach.

 Hybridisation
Hybridisation

is the process of forming

new orbitals by mixing of atomic orbitals
in a particular atom.
The new hybrid orbitals that are formed
are all equivalent orbitals and have the
same energy. The phenomenon is know as
hybridisation.
Two main characteristics of hybridisation
are:

(i) The number of hybrid orbitals formed

is the same as the number of atomic
orbitals undergoing hybridisation.
(ii) All the new hybrid orbitals that are
formed are exactly identical in their
shapes and energy.

 Let

us take up the example of bonding in

a triatomic molecule; say, beryllium
hydride (BeH ) to understand the concept
2
of hybridisation of orbitals and the need
for the same.
The atomic number of beryllium is 4. Its
electronic configuration is 1s2 2s2.

 In

order to form bonds with two

hydrogen atoms the valence electrons
(2s2) of beryllium atom must overlap with
the 1s electrons of the two hydrogen
atoms.
Pauling got over this problem by
suggesting that in the process of bond
formation an electron from the 2s orbital
of beryllium atom gets momentarily
excited to the empty 2p orbital.

 Now

the two valence electrons are in two

singly occupied orbitals which can
overlap with the 1s orbitals of the two
hydrogen atoms and form two bonds.

 The

two bonds formed by these overlaps

would be of different nature. One of these
would involve overlapping of 2s orbital
of beryllium with 3p orbital of chlorine
while the other would involve
overlapping of 2p orbital of beryllium
with 2p orbital of chlorine. However,
experimentally the two bonds are found
to be equivalent.

 This

problem is solved with the help of a

concept called hybridisation of orbitals.
According to this two or more than two
non equivalent orbitals (having different
energies and shapes ) of comparable
energies mix or hybridize and give rise to
an equal number of equivalent ( same
energies and shapes) hybrid orbitals.

 In

case of BeCl2 the two singly occupied

orbitals (2s and 2p) hybridize to give two
sp- hybrid orbitals. This is called sp
hybridisation. These hybrid orbitals lie
along the z- direction and point in
opposite directions.

 Resonance
Some

times it is possible to write more

than one Lewis structure of a compound
that agree with the electronic
requirements. For example, we can write
two Lewis structures for ozone
molecules, O3.

 Similarly,

in carbonate ion (CO32-)

The three possible canonical structures of
carbonate ion are:

Molecular Orbital Theory

Molecular

orbital theory (MOT) was

developed by F.Hund and R.S.Mulliken
in 1932.
It describes bond formation as a result of
overlapping of the atomic orbitals
belonging to the constituent atoms.
The overlapping region responsible for
bonding is situated between the two
atoms i.e., it is localised.

 According

to MOT, in the process of bond

Formation the atomic orbitals of the
constituent atoms combine to generate new
types of orbitals (called molecular orbitals).
These molecular orbitals are created by
Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals
(LCAO) approach in which, the atomic
orbitals of comparable energies and of
suitable symmetry combine to give rise to
an equal number of molecular orbitals.

 The

available electrons then fill these

orbitals in the order of increasing energy
as in the Aufbau principle used in the
electron configurations of atoms.

 The

molecular orbital obtained by the

addition of atomic orbitals is of lower
energy than that of the atomic orbitals
and is called a bonding orbital. On the
other hand, the orbital obtained by
subtraction of atomic orbitals is of higher
energy and is called an anti-bonding
orbital.

 The

molecular orbitals obtained here are

symmetric around the bond axis (the line
joining the two nuclei).
Such molecular orbitals are called sigma
() molecular orbitals.
The bonding orbital obtained above is
denoted as 1s while the anti- bonding
orbital is denoted as *1s.

 Here

indicates the type of molecular

orbital; 1s tells about the atomic orbital
involved and * is indicative of the antibonding nature of the MO.
Like electronic configuration of atoms we
write MO electronic configuration for
molecules. The MO configuration of
hydrogen molecule is given as (1s)2.

 Bond

Order:
we may define a new parameter called
bond order as
Bond order = (b.o.) = (nb - na)
Where, nb and na refer to the number of
electrons present in bonding and
antibonding
molecular
orbitals,
respectively.

 For

hydrogen molecule the bond order

will be (20) = 1, i.e., there is a single
bond between two hydrogen atoms.

Molecular orbital energy level diagrams a) for O2

and F2 and b) for diatomic molecules of lighter
elements Li, Be, B, C and N

MO Electronic Configuration and

Properties of a Molecule
The MO energy level diagram discussed
above can be used to find out the MO
electronic configuration of a molecule.
This in turn provides the information
about some properties of the molecule.
Let us take the example of nitrogen
molecule.

 An

atom of nitrogen has five valence

electrons; since there are two atoms, we
have a total of ten valence electrons that
need to be filled in the MOs. The MO
electronic configuration can be written as

this means that in nitrogen molecule, a

triple bond exists between the two
nitrogen atoms.

 Magnetic

nature:
Molecules magnetic behaviour depending
on their MO electronic configuration. If
all the MOs are doubly occupied the
substance shows diamagnetic behaviour.
In case one or more MOs are singly
occupied,
the
substance
shows
paramagnetic behaviour.

 The

MO electronic configuration of O2
(with 12 valence electrons) is

Since

it contains unpaired electrons,

oxygen shows paramagnetic behavior.

THANKYOU